By Sheine Nicole C. Lim and Yyann Barcelona | April 31, 2019
MANILA, PH- Last March 25, 2019 from 1 pm to 5 pm, a seminar entitled “Catholic Youth in Action: The Rights of Workers and Transformative Education”, spearheaded by USTSS, together with the Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND), UP Praxis and AB Pax Romana was conducted at Educ. Auditorium inside the Albertus Magnus Bldg., in preparation of this year’s Sociology Month, in-line with their theme- human rights.
The seminar shed light to the unjust treatment and abuses of the workers of Sumitomo Fruit Corp or better known as “Sumifru”, a multi-national company in Compostella Valley that exports bananas to Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, New Zealand and the Middle East.
The seminar started with an opening prayer by French Templonuevo, the current USTSS President, followed by the opening remarks of Dindo Roxas, UST Praxis Head. They invited Mr. Justy Sher D. Batallador and Mrs. Maria Fe G. Juson, both Sumifru workers and members of Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (NAMASUFA) and Assoc. Prof. Mark Anthony D. Abenir, Director of UST Simbahayan Community Development Office as speakers with the former having discussed their current situation and the latter explained why contractualisation exists in the Philippines. Also, Robert Domenic Gonzales, Trisha Ifurung and Edmer Mirko Martinez were invited as the panel of reactors. The program was hosted by 4SCL1’s Akilah Shayne Galang and Maica Enriquez.
WHY IS THERE A WORKER’S PROTEST HERE IN MANILA?
The Sumifru workers’ call to action is to be regularized and to acquire benefits because majority of them are contractual workers for over 20 years. The workplace of Sumifru in Mindanao was deemed unsafe for the workers due to lack of protective gears and equipments. According to the workers, they are exposed to chemicals like Omega that causes them illnesses. They also mentioned that Sumifru did not provide them adequate health benefits despite the workers’ being underpaid while the company earns an estimate of 19 million pesos a day. One of the speakers, Mrs. Maria Fe G. Juson told us that their wage is only 365 pesos a day, a small amount of money that could not sustain their everyday needs, much more with more than 2 children to feed and take care of.
Mrs. Juson said that the imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao greatly affects the welfare of the workers as they are constantly being spied upon by the military in compliance with the order of the powerful. They were also prohibited from entering the vicinity of Davao City and were observed by the Military forces as mandated by President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Moreover, the media conglomerates in the Philippines blocks the workers’ call for help and complaints through news blackout regarding the issue. The local government never supported nor provided any help for the workers so they decided to conduct a strike in Manila to voice out their complaints. There are reports that there has been a violent dispersal in Compostela Valley due to their strike that caused injuries to several workers so the workers decided to bring the problem in Manila wherein they first stayed in Liwasang Bonifacio that acted as their camp then after the Manila City Hall’s order to evacuate the area, they are currently staying in the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) office in Commonwealth, Quezon City to continue their fight against the capitalist abusers.
According to Assoc. Prof. Mark Anthony D. Abenir, DSD, Director of UST Simbahayan Community Development Office, the real problem with the issue of contractualization is malpractice which is the greatest legal concern for workers as he stated that “the middle ground between employers and employees is legal”.
WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS UNDER THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION?
According to the Labor Code of the Philippines, the State shall provide equal work opportunities to all, excluding none except those aged 18 and below, every employee shall be assured of security of tenure which can be retracted if an employee committed a wrongdoing or crime deserving of dismissal, but only after due process was done, the regular working hours in a day is only 8 hours, but if it exceeded, it should be treated as overtime and the workers are entitled to overtime pay, there is a 24-hour day-off after 6 days of work, wage should cover hours of work, overtime, night differential, rest day, holiday and 13th month pay, the workers should be given a safe working environment wholly provided with safety gears and equipments to avoid any injuries during work hours, workers have the right to self-organization and collective bargaining which means that labor unions should not be prohibited as stated in the code and lastly, the workers have the right to enjoy the tax-exempt employees’ compensation program which gives the workers’ right to enjoy their benefits for work-related contingencies that include medical benefits for sickness/injuries, disability benefits, rehabilitation benefits, death and funeral benefits and pension benefits created under Presidential Decree No. 626 which was implemented in March 1975.
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